Ki Flow
by NinNinKakizaki2015
Summary: Fighters come to understand each other through the fight. Ryu x Chun-Li.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Street Fighter of any of its characters.**

Punch. Jab. Cross.

Block. Knee. Thrust.

Every strike, every move; they were all just as important. In order to refine one's technique, that said individual was to continuously train in all aspects of their form of combat. And although redundant, repeating the same moves over and over again only helped to further develop one's understanding of their art.

Sidestep. Stance. Side kick.

Turn. Stance again. Roundhouse kick.

With every strike, the martial artist put every ounce of his energy into. It was of utmost importance for him to savour every moment of the fight. Every blow exchanged with the air around him taught him something, and with each one, his knowledge of his art continued to grow.

Taking the ki energy he had accumulated, the martial artist brought his palms together to his side, focusing it all into a ball of pure energy. Once the ball took form, he thrust his palms forward, throwing the ball energy out in front of him, directly into the night sky.

"HADOUKEN!"

This man was named Ryu. For as long as he had remembered, Ryu had always been training, taking the legendary martial art of Ansatsuken he had inherited from his master Gouken and trying to understand its implications. Sure, its roots were in assassination, but through time practice, the art was toned down so that its lethal aspects were minimized.

It was through training, and participating in world fighting tournaments, that Ryu continued to seek out the meaning of the fight. Throughout his travels, he had come in contact with many people, all with different reasons to fight. While some of their intentions were less than satisfactory, Ryu was able to see how hard they all had worked to achieve what they've came to be.

By exchanging blows with each fighter, Ryu had learned about their motives; their reasons for entering the tournament. While they all had their own merits, there was one particular fighter whom he had paid particular attention to. And even to this day, despite everything being resolved, Ryu still pondered over it.

Hardened by the thought of revenge, this fighter sought out the fight only to bring down one man once and for all. Despite her strong sense of justice, her desire to see this man's death at her feet had grown too strong, making her lose her sense of self. It was all too similar to Ryu's situation; how he desired to kill for the sake of avenging the death of his master.

It was exactly this in which Ryu had struggled all his life to avoid. The Satsui no Hadou, or Surge of Murderous Intent, was one of Ansatsuken's darkest secrets, and was only unlocked by a fighter's extreme desire to become stronger. It was Ryu's greatest ambition to improve himself as a capable fighter, but he never did want to succumb to the Satsui no Hadou.

Ryu's first encounter with such power was during his final training session alongside with his friend and rival Ken Masters. The final task his master Gouken had set both of them to do was a one-on-one duel, and this was to be done after surviving several days in the wilderness on their own. It seemed as though Ken had the upper hand, and just as Ryu was about to admit defeat, he felt a wave of dark energy surging through his body, giving him access to the deadly Metsu Hadouken and unleashing it at Ken. After a fierce battle for survival, it took Ken's trust in Ryu to bring him back to his senses.

After that ordeal, Ryu had began to feel doubtful of himself, thinking that he had failed his master by tapping into this dark power. To make matters worse, Ryu's return to the dojo after his warrior's pilgrimage was only welcomed by Gouken's corpse, complete with a message from a warrior named Akuma.

To embrace the Satsui no Hadou.

And it was through use of this power in which Ryu had won the first world warrior tournament against the Muay Thai king Sagat. Ryu had pulled off a deadly Metsu Shoryuken move, leaving a scar across Sagat's chest. It was only through luck that Ryu had not crossed over the line. His anger at Akuma for the murder of his master still lingered within him, but Ryu had vowed not to use that power again.

And that was when he had met her.

Chun-Li. She was a member of Interpol and a master of martial arts in her own right. She joined the second world warrior tournament with one goal in mind: to take revenge against M. Bison, the tournament host, for the death of her father.

Ryu had encountered her during the semi-finals, the winner of the fight to be the one to face off against Bison. Through exchange of blows was Ryu able to derive Chun-Li's sense of blind rage. So eager was she to reach Bison that she was losing sense of herself, to which Ryu could easily relate to. She could not go on to face Bison like this. He had to end this.

"SHORYUKEN!"

Chun-Li was lying on the ground, breathing heavily. Frustrated, she tried once more to lash out at Ryu, only to find her strike blocked by Ryu's gentle fist.

"Why…" she panted. "Why you of all people?"

"You cannot continue in your state. Please allow me to take your place."

Chun-Li was confused at first. Who was this person to say what to do? This was her mission to complete, her goal to accomplish. And yet, it was this man, this seemingly homeless person, who was standing in her way. What warranted him to say things like that?

"I sense a feeling of turmoil within you, and you are troubled since the goal you seek will neither bring glory nor consequence. Allow me to stand in your stead, should you not want to experience corruption."

And that was when Chun-Li felt it, his ki signature. It was unlike any other she had come across. Back in her time training in martial arts, her practice in perfecting the Kikoken attack was her only method of coinciding with the world of ki, and she was usually able to gain the upper hand in battle due to it.

Now, she was in the presence of another ki user, and the power that radiated from him was like nothing she had ever encountered. Although wary at first, Chun-Li felt the sincerity of this man's words. She had to agree; in her pursuit of Bison, she had completely lost it. She wanted to beat the living hell out of that Shadaloo dictator, but she was in no right state of mind to do it.

"Your name?"

"Ryu."

"Well then, Ryu." Chun-Li let out a hefty sigh. "Go get him for me, will you?"

Ryu smiled. "Will do."

However, once Ryu made it there, he was only met with the dead corpse of the once Shadaloo leader. Instead, he came face to face with Akuma, the raging demon himself.

His master's murderer.

Never did Ryu ever think of having to face him in combat ever since he vowed not to tap into the dark power within him. However, the pain of losing his beloved master Gouken all those years ago began to surface once more. His blood began to boil. Ryu's own ki flow began to thicken with a dark aura as he walked over to Akuma. Ryu delivered the first punch, only to be effortlessly blocked and thrown onto the ground with ease.

"Come on worthless pup! Embrace the Satsui no Hadou! Fuel your rage into it!"

Ryu threw a Hadouken, followed by a swift roundhouse kick and leg sweep. However, it seemed as though Akuma could easily predict his every move, countering each attack with increasing ferocity.

Within no time at all, Ryu was being pummelled and beaten like a rag doll. There was no way out of this, Ryu couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to win so badly, he wanted to avenge his master.

He wanted to kill Akuma.

With a horrible yell, Ryu tapped into his rage-induced power and had completely transformed into a whole other being. No longer himself, this violent warrior went out and lashed out at Akuma, while the latter smiled in satisfaction, having achieved we he had set out to do.

However, the raging demon did not anticipate one other person arriving at the scene.

"Ryu!"

Chun-Li was shocked at what was happening before her eyes. Who was once the noble warrior whom she conversed with moments ago now seemed to be a rage-induced killing machine, destroying everything in his path. This was not the same person, yet…

"I shall be taking my leave now." Akuma said as he performed his Ashura Senku and disappeared out of sight.

"Wait! What did you do to Ryu!" Chun-Li took off after him, only to be pushed aside by the other demon. Something was not right. Even though this being was letting out this menacing and evil ki signature, Chun-Li knew that this was not through his own will. She just knew. Somehow, she had to bring Ryu back to his senses, but how?

"GGRRRAAARRGGHH!"

Ryu continued in his stream of attacks against Chun-Li. While he was powerful in this form, he lacked the sense of focus the normal Ryu would have had, and Chun-Li had to rely on her agility to avoid getting caught in the onslaught.

This was not Ryu. The flow of ki within him did not register at all. Yet, Chun-Li could detect a faint fragment of the old Ryu deep inside, waiting to be awakened. How was she going to do it? And why did she have to? She had only just met this man, but somehow, she felt this deep connection towards him, as though the ki surging through their bodies had somehow become entwined. It was through this encounter than Chun-Li's own level of ki detection was raised to a considerable level.

She just needed to reach him. If only…

THWACK!

Chun-Li was caught off guard as Ryu landed a blow to her stomach. She cringed as she was knocked back and crashed into the scaffolding that was meant to block out and onlookers during the final match of the tournament. She was completely winded, gasping for breath as she faced this monstrosity, who was now getting into a one-legged stance, seemingly readying himself to deal a finishing strike.

"Ryu, please… come to your senses…"

Chun-Li lifted up her fist in a final act of defense. Charging up the last bit of ki stored up inside of her, she fired a Kikoken just as Ryu dashed his way towards her…

Chun-Li had saved Ryu's life.

Ryu finally understood why he was never satisfied even with polishing his moves to absolute perfection. His training meant one thing, but in order to achieve more, in order to better himself, he needed someone. Someone who could keep him in check.

For years, the Satsui no Hadou failed to resurface. Akuma no longer was present during Ryu's travels. And those combined gave Ryu the space and freedom to train without interruption. The problem was, he was lonely. He would often catch up with the other competitors from previous tournaments, and his best friend Ken would often track him down and have a spar with him for old times' sake.

But he longed for someone to be by his side. Ryu wasn't sure why, but that was now what he sought during his training. They both did come across each other from time to time, but never did Ryu ever felt so emotionally attached to someone. If only his training could bring him closer to her…

Punch. Jab. Cross.

Block. Knee. Thrust.

Focus your ki, Ryu thought to himself. Feel it flow through your fists. Cleanse your soul and channel its power. Amass it together and…

He felt someone else's ki signature within a mile radius. It was coming closer, but Ryu decided not to approach it. Instead he closed his eyes and continued to focus.

Sidestep. Stance. Side kick.

Turn. Stance again. Roundhouse kick.

Ryu could feel her presence. Just like him, she was keeping up with her martial arts training. Fluid kicks, swift palm thrusts, and graceful leaps were what made up her routine. He could feel them all. Her attacks were fierce and powerful, yet they had a sense of elegance to them, which made Ryu feel at ease.

He felt his ki flow naturally to his palms. He didn't need to focus it because some force of nature was already doing it for him. All he needed to do was to throw it out, to let her know that he was here. It was only a matter of moments now.

Ryu took his stance. Allowing the ki to take form between his palms, he waited for the exact moment before following through with this. His eyes still closed, he slowly began to bring his arms forward. He thrust out his palms…

"HADOUKUEN!"

"KIKOKEN!"

And their fists connected. Ryu opened his eyes, and there she was, smiling at him.

Acknowledging each other's presence, Ryu and Chun-Li stepped away from each other and bowed. Sensing each other's spiritual awareness, both readied themselves into their respective fighting stances, prepared for another sparring session. There was no need for words, for they both knew what the other was thinking. All they needed was communication through their fists, and that was all that was required to understand how they had come to terms with each other.

And with that, their eternal battle began.

 **A/N: So here's a little Ryu x Chun-Li piece I decided to do. Not strictly canon, messed around with a few events, but hey, will Capcom ever make this couple canon? Hard to say...**

 **Anyways, how was it? Please leave a friendly review, and thanks!**


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